Pulse Bamboo Pavilion – Macau, China

Designed and built by University of St Joseph (Macau) third- and fourth-year architecture students, led by guest professors Kristof Crolla (LEAD) and Dannes Kok, the Pulse Pavilion is a temporary structure that stands at Plaza Sai Van, adjacent to Macau Tower, from 1–10 June 2013. It is an inhabitable sculpture, a parametrically generated organic lattice structure created from split bamboo rods, interwoven with fabric panels, and featuring an interactive LED lighting system. The bamboo pavilion was illuminated by over one thousand individual controlled dots of Traxon’s ultra-bright, fully-customizable Dot XL-9 system. Dot XL is controllable by DMX and e:pix/DVI input signals, and its Smart Chip technology and intelligent software allow maximum control of even the most intricate media scenarios. The e:cue Lighting Application (LAS) was used together with Butler XT2 and Butler S2 to control this installation via DMX. LAS provided an Action Pad control capability which integrates the system with a web server making it accessible via iPhone and Android mobile devices including color picker option. In addition to a range of spectacular pre-programmed lightshows, the bamboo lattice is lined with motion sensors that cause the LED lights to change in color and intensity as people move around and through the pavilion.